"Look Gen, we can't keep doing this. I love you, but this relationship isn't working." "Oh boy, drama alert," Chris's eyes rolled. I didn't say anything, too busy merely, effortlessly staring at Peter. After all this time….. Peter grew up; no, he didn't grow up- he glowed up. Taller, tanner, and swoller- if that was possible. He and Gen, who looked different now, were currently in the middle of a heated argument. It didn't last long when they saw us, or rather he saw me. Peter spotted me first, immediately freezing mid-step and mouth dropping open. Our eyes locked as mine softened and his widened in shock. "Holy shit!" He examined in utter disbelief. Gen blinked back at him over her shoulder before turning to face us, her own expression altering- and not into something positive.
"A-Aerity!? Is that you?" Chris frown grew while I silently nodded my head, only once. She glanced from me back to dumbfounded Peter as if to be putting the pieces together. "W-what are you doing here? Last I heard, you moved to Scotland," she stammered all over herself, desperately trying to regain her composure. She knew we had seen the fight. "She came back for the summer," Chris spat, not letting go of my arm. "The summer?" Gen blinked at me confused. "I see…."
Then she clearly forced a grin as she stepped over to us; I felt Chris's grip on me tighten. "Wow, Aerity; I mean like wow. How long has it been?" "Six years," I frowned unimpressed with her attempt at polite small talk; no thank you. "We haven't spoken since graduation." "Right!" She said as if to be remembering for herself. Yup, nope- I'm not buying it. We're too old for these games. "Wow, I mean look at you! You're beautiful!" Obviously, Gen didn't get the memo. "Thank you. You grew up too, I see," I meant in the physical sense strictly. "Thanks," her thin, nail polished hand gave a wave in the air. Having enough of her, my gaze returned back to Peter….. Peter. He still had this look of shock on his face when Gen turned over her shoulder to address him.
"Peter, look who it is. It's Aerity," oh boy, Gen didn't try to hide the venom in her tone. She was really bad at being one of the catty, back-stabbing yet still somehow charming women you see on soap operas. "Aerity," Peter whispered to himself as his limbs started to relax. "Aerity…." I'll admit, the look on Gen's face in the moment was priceless. But I didn't much time to savour that moment; slowly, as if he didn't believe his own eyes, Peter came over to us; not taking his eyes off mine. "You're here….. you actually came back," he said more to himself than to me, I think. My lips parted a sliver in response as I solely stared up at him. And for the first time since I could remember- certainly since high school- I could have sworn I heard the faintest melody at the back of my head. A little, sweet song playing from the dark recesses of my mind; unconsciously and without my general will. Peter…. My eyes grew slightly. He was more handsome, stunning than I remembered….. attractive.
What felt like an eternity was only five seconds in reality. Gen loudly cleared her throat causing us both to blink at the same time. Then we all looked back at the sourly grinning Gen; gees, you could make lemonade with how sour she felt just now. "Course she came back. Her dad and Kitty still live here, duh…. They do still live here, right?" She looked to me for confirmation. This brat…. "Yes." "So, are you here for the summer?" "The whole summer?" Peter added, making Gen shoot him a vicious glare. "Just getting my visa sorted out."
"Aerity goes to the University of Edinburgh," Chris proudly announced, flashing Gen a snarky grin which I didn't mind at all. "Oh, well aren't you the smart one?" Could you sound any pettier, Gen? I inwardly rolled my eyes. "I'm going to the University of California." "Mmmmm, California; why am I not surprised?" That was the rudest thing I've ever said; well, at least this year. But I'd enough of her; six years apart wasn't long enough. "Yes," she frowned before pulling Peter by the arm, drawing him into her. "And Peter here is going to Berkley." "Berkley?!" This was an accomplishment. To my surprise, Peter seemed a little bashful about this revelation. "It's not Edinburgh, but it's still pretty good." "Pretty good? You're at Berkley; that's a real achievement." "She's right," I agreed with Gen, flashing Peter a brilliant smile. "I'm really happy for you, Peter. Berkley is a great school." Again, the look on Gen's face; and I wasn't even trying to make her mad. My eyes locked onto Peter again…. Not at all.
A pregnant, uncomfortable pause came over the four of us, to which I lightly shook my head and blinked several times to regain my focus. "So, you two; how have you been?" "Fantastic," Gen answered for both of them, I guess. "It's been what? Seven years now, babe?" "I told you not to call me that anymore," Peter said directly to Gen, catching her off guard. "We were together for six years, but this year's been rocky for us," he then explained to me…. since I suppose he thought I needed an explanation. And Chris grinned- she grinned intentionally.
"And what about you, Aerity? Still single?" Gen remarked coldly, cruelly; folding her arms and standing at a slant for emphasis. This totally backfired on her however when Chris looked to Peter with the same smile. "Yes, she's single; and she's here all summer." "Chris!" Even this was a little too much for me, even though it did make me kind of secretly happy deep inside. "Y-you're single?" There was just a hint of stammer in Peter's voice. "Why should you care?" Gen fired him the nastiest glare. "You're in a relationship, remember? With me, you moron!"
Oh my god, my eyes immediately widened in shock and disgust. No- absolutely not. Peter does not deserve to be talked to like that; with such a blatant lack of respect. That was disgusting. I would never even consider calling anyone a "moron" to their face, especially my significant other. And I would never be with anyone who called me a moron, even in jest. I'm not a moron and deserve more respect; so does Peter. In that moment, all my anger for Gen resurged and I felt contempt for this woman. You do not call Peter "stupid"- not in front of me.
Suddenly feeling an intense bitterness swell up inside of me, I let go of Chris's arm and spun around to leave. Everyone flinched in surprise. "Wait, Aerity! Where are you going?" It was Peter who called out to me first; huh, I thought it would have been Chris. "It was nice to see you two again," not. "Come on, Chris," I didn't even look back to see their faces; I was too upset with Gen at the moment. "Yeah, real great seein' you too," Gen said with a tone; that tone. I could practically feel the daggers Peter was sending her before he raced over to my side. "Where do you think you're going? I've gotta be a work at five, Peter!" But he ignored her; he perfectly ignored her while trying to keep up with me.
"Uh, hi?" "Hi?" I didn't really know what he wanted me to say to this, so I said the first thing that came to mind. "You disappeared," he sounded almost accusing. "I didn't disappear; I moved for school." "And you couldn't have told me? It's been six damn years, Aerity. You didn't think I wanted to hear from you? Know where you are and how you're doing?" What was this? I peered over at him dumbfounded. Where was all this coming from? Yeah, he's right; it's been six years- six years where he could have contacted me. But he didn't; he didn't…..
That didn't stop Peter from scolding me though; not by a long shot. I guess they don't teach a lot of logic at Berkley. "Why didn't call or write to me? Why'd you just go away like that?" "Why are you so mad? You had six years to contact me, remember?" "I didn't know where you were!" He fired back at me. "You don't have FaceBook and your family refused to tell me anything." Oh yeah, back when I was still angry and sad over our "breakup", I ordered Daddy and Kitty not to tell Gen or Peter my new number or address in Edinburgh. Oops; ok, maybe this was partly my fault. I sighed and looked forward.
"I don't know what to tell you, Peter. It's great seeing you again; it really is. I….." The words paused in my mouth for a second before I could muster the strength to continue. "I won't lie… I missed you. But you were with Gen; I had to respect your relationship." "Oh, so respect means to disappear completely? That makes sense!" "I didn't mean to hurt you. I just… didn't know what else to do. We were kids, after all." "Yeah, but we're not kids now." "What do you mean?" I peeked over at him from the corner of my eye. "Why are you walking away now? Right after we just…." "Because!" I had to take in a deep, steadying breath. "Because…. you're with Gen, and I still have to respect that; no matter how I feel," my lips somehow managed to get out as I continued walking away.